Unknown Family Ties
by Dr. Michaela Quinn
Summary: Charles Ingalls wagon breaks down in front of the Waltons house in Jefferson County, Virginia. Little to find out though, Caroline Ingalls is the aunt of Olivia Walton, so while Charles, Zeb, and John fix his wagon, Caroline, Olivia, catch up on old times
1. Finding Your Relatives

Little House on The Prairie- The Waltons Crossover

* Unknown Family Ties*

It was a cold, dark night in the year 1940. Charles Ingalls was driving his wagon down the road, when a wheel broke right in front of a big, white house in the middle of nowhere. Now, usually Charles could fix the wheel himself; although being far away from home and not having anything to fix it himself he needed some help. The front room of this big old house was lit up.

"Oh Charles." Caroline Ingalls, his wife, said in her usual worried tone, just watching him watch the house.

"Caroline, you stay out here with the children. I'm going to go up and see if there is somebody who can help." Charles kisses Caroline's soft cheek and gets out of the wagon and starts to walk up the steep steps of this old house.

______________________________

John, Zeb, and Olivia Walton are sitting in the living room of the house listening to the radio. Erin and Elizabeth rush down the stairs holding their nephew, John Curtis Willard.

"Mama, there's a wagon outside." Elizabeth says.

"A wagon?" Olivia says confused looking out the window.

"What's the situation Livie?" Zeb asks her.

"Liv?" John asks questioning when Olivia doesn't answer Zeb.

"It's just a wagon sitting there John. But I have never seen a wagon since I was a child," Olivia realizes something, "oh they have a broken wheel." Just then there is a knock at the door.

"Be careful John." Olivia says.

"Don't worry about it Livie." Zeb says as John opens the door.

____________________________________

Charles stands there waiting for the door to be opened. He looks back at Caroline and the door opens.

"Hello?" A deep voice says from behind him. Charles turns around.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, and your family. My name is Charles Ingalls. One of the wheels on our wagon broke and I was wondering if you could help." Charles says.

"No problem at all. I'm John Walton, and this is my father Zeb, my wife Olivia, and our daughters Erin and Elizabeth. We own the mill here in Jefferson County. I am sure we can help you. Where are you from?" John asks.

"Walnut Grove, Minnesota." Charles answers with a cough afterwards.

"You are pretty far away from home, Charles Ingalls." John says.

"We are looking for some of our family who lives up here. We are supposed to be looking for an Ike Godsey." Charles says.

"Ike! Mama." Elizabeth exclaims excitedly. Olivia tries to quiet down her youngest child.

"Well let's get your family in here Mr. Ingalls, and then you, Pa, and I will have to see what we can do about that wheel. Then we will show you where Ike Godsey lives tomorrow morning." John says.

"It sure is a cold night." Olivia says.

"For Virginia that is Livie." Zeb says with a laugh, "I am sure that Mr. Ingalls here has seen colder winters than we could ever imagine."

"That's probably right." Charles says, "thank you." Charles walks out to the wagon and gathers the family and they go inside.

____________________________________________

"Daddy, do you think these people really know Ike?" Erin asks.

" I don't know honey. I just don't know. We have to be careful." John says, holding onto Erin's shoulder. Just then Charles walks in with Caroline, Mary, Laura, Carrie, Grace, Albert, James, and Cassandra.

"Olivia?" Caroline asks looking at Olivia very carefully. Olivia looks at her wearily.

"Do I know you?" Olivia asks her.

"You ought to. It's Aunt Caroline. Aunt Kate's sister." Caroline says to her.

"Aunt Caroline! I haven't seen you in years! Not since I was a little girl!" Olivia jumps up off the couch and hugs her. All this ruckous brings down the rest of the Walton clan, Jason, Mary Ellen, Ben, and Jim Bob.

"Charles, this is the rest of the family, our sons Jason, Ben, and Jim Bob, and that's our daughter Mary Ellen." John says.

"Hello." Mary Ellen says casually as she walks over to Erin and takes John Curtis and kisses the top of his head.

"Mary Ellen, do you remember my Aunt Kate?" Olivia asks.

"Yes." Mary Ellen replies.

"This is her older sister and my aunt Caroline. This is her husband Charles, and their children." Olivia says.

"Oh," Caroline says as if she just remembered, "these are my children, Mary, Laura, Carrie, Grace, Albert, James, and Cassandra."

"They really are beautiful Aunt Caroline." Olivia says.

"So are yours Olivia. I remember when you were just probably about this young one here's age." Caroline says referring to Elizabeth.

"These are our other 2 daughters. Elizabeth and Erin." Olivia says.

"Hello." Caroline says as she takes off her bonnet.

"Why were you looking for Ike Godsey?" Elizabeth says curious.

"I talked with Ike on the telephone from Walnut Grove, and he told me that he would help me find my niece." Caroline says. Elizabeth nods and then looks at Mary and Laura.

"How old are you?" Elizabeth asks.

"I am 14, Mary is 17." Laura says to her.

"Can't Mary speak for herself?" Elizabeth asks her.

"Dear child, Mary is blind and probably didn't know you were speaking to her." Caroline says.

"Oh no." Olivia says to Caroline, "Mary, would you like to sit down?"

"No, I'm fine, ma'am. But thanks for asking." Mary says to her holding onto Laura's arm.

"Well Mary, I appreciate the politeness, but we are cousins. You can call me Olivia, if you would like to." Mary pulls down on Laura's arm signaling her in some sort of silent code. Laura responds to her.

"No ma'am. That wouldn't be right for us to do that. We are younger than you are and it wouldn't be appropriate for us to call you by your first name." Laur says.

"Mary, what do you like to do for fun?" Erin asks her sitting next to her Mama.

"Well, I knit, and I like to read. Especially the Bible." Mary says with a smile on her face.

"You read?" Mary Ellen says fascinated by this blind girl whom she has never met before.

"Well I went to blind school and I learned alot of things. In fact, now I teach at the blind school, but took some time off to come with my Ma and Pa, and my brothers and sisters." Mary says feeling the chair next to her.

"Oh." Mary Ellen says to her.

"Would you like to sit down, Mary? Are your feet getting tired?" Caroline asks her.

"I am fine, Ma." Mary says to her.

"Come on Charles; let's go find out what's going on with your wagon." Zeb says to Charles. Zeb, John, and Charles walk out the front door.


	2. Olivia and Caroline Realize Their Family

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since my last chapter…

While Charles, John, and Zeb worked outside in the dark taking care of the broken wagon wheel; Caroline, Olivia, and the children were sitting and talking around the kitchen table.

"Aunt Caroline. I am so sorry that I didn't recognize you. I haven't seen you in years." Olivia says.

"Olivia, it's fine. I have changed a lot since you were a young girl. I was all of 22 when your mother married your father and you were born." Caroline says to her.

"How is Aunt Kate doing? I haven't been able to get away and see her in a while." Olivia says.

"Well I haven't seen her since probably 1925. I write letters, but I haven't received one since last spring from her." Caroline replies holding Mary's hand in hers. Elizabeth is getting bored with all this talking and thinks maybe the other girls are too.

"Mama, is it okay if we show Mary, Laura, Carrie, Grace, and Cassandra our bedroom?" Elizabeth asks.

"I don't see why not," Olivia says looking at Caroline, "unless their mother has a problem with it."

"No, it's fine. They can go. Mary, do you need some help getting up?" Caroline asks her.

"It's alright Ma. I can do it with Laura's help." Mary says. Laura stands up and takes Mary's hand and helps her off the bench.

"Mama, where do you want us to go?" Jim Bob asks Olivia, referring to him Jason, Ben, Albert, and James.

"Why don't you guys go and see Ike and tell him that they found us?" Olivia asks trying to keep the boys productive. Finally, Mary Ellen, Erin, Elizabeth, Mary, Laura, Carrie, Grace, and Cassandra start walking up the stairs from the Walton's kitchen.

"Please just be quiet. John Curtis is finally down to sleep." Mary Ellen says quietly. Olivia and Caroline just laugh.

"Mary Ellen, with all the people in this house tonight, John Curtis isn't going to be able to sleep. Just like we won't be able to sleep." Olivia says. As the girls head up the stairs Olivia and Caroline start talking.

"I remember when you were a new mother like Mary Ellen, Olivia." Caroline says.

"How?" Olivia asks giving her a look.

"Your mother and I talked a lot through letters even though I didn't see you very much. I went off to Minnesota when you were 5 years old, that's when Charles and I got married. We had known each other since we were young; but his family lived in Minnesota." Caroline says.

"Well, as you know I have been on this mountain for as long as I can remember. John and I got married over 25 years ago. We have 7 beautiful children together and a grandson." Olivia says.

"7 children? You only have 6 that I saw." Caroline says confused.

"John Boy. He is working in New York." Olivia says.

"Oh…" Caroline replies…

As the girls sit around Erin and Elizabeth's bedroom…


	3. The Girls Talk

You can feel the tension between them. These 8 girls had never met before this night, and weren't fully sure what to say to one another. Elizabeth, as usual, started up a conversation.

"Where are you guys from?" Elizabeth asks.

"We came from Walnut Grove, Minnesota." Laura says to her.

"Oh. That's far away from here." Erin says.

"Well, Pa wanted us to see Ma's family from Virginia. She's from around here you know." Mary says to Erin.

"Yes. I think it's interesting that your Ma is Mama's aunt." Mary Ellen says, "although Mary I am pretty fascinated by your illness. You see I am studying to be a nurse and I want to learn all I can learn for school."

"I would rather not be a science project Mary Ellen." Mary says sharply. Mary Ellen sits back on the bed appalled.

"I'm sorry." Mary Ellen says.

"No, I am. I should not have acted that way towards you. Please forgive me." Mary says.

"Okay." Mary Ellen replies.

"Cassandra, you don't look very much like Laura and Carrie. How are you related?" Elizabeth asks. Cassandra just sits there. She doesn't like to talk about the death of her own parents very much, although she loves Ma and Pa Ingalls very much.

"Well, James and my, Ma and Pa passed away in a wagon accident years ago, and Ma and Pa adopted us so we would have a home." Cassandra said.

"What's it like to have real brothers?" Laura asks Elizabeth.

"What do you mean Laura? What about Albert and James? They are your brothers." Erin says to her.

"They are adopted. Mary, Carrie, Grace, and I are the only children of our parents. I had a little brother named Charles but he died a long time ago." Laura says looking down at her lap.

"Laura Elizabeth Ingalls! We are not to talk of such things are we?" Mary hollers at Laura and swats the back of Laura's head. Laura winces but doesn't say anything. The other Ingalls girls are quiet trying to keep themselves from the same thing.

"Well, I wonder what it's like to live in Minnesota." Elizabeth says.

"It's really cold, and we have to walk all the way to town for school." Laura says, "Mary goes to a special school in Iowa. She's engaged to be married to Adam Kendall."

"That sounds so romantic." Mary Ellen says.

"Mary Ellen got married last year. I was her bridesmaid and everything. But Curt had to go off to the war." Erin said.

"Erin." Mary Ellen says choking up.

"Curt was a doctor. I liked him." Elizabeth says. Just then the door to the girls' bedroom opens and Olivia and Caroline walk in with Jason, Ben, Jim Bob, James, and Albert.


	4. We're Spending The Night

"Girls, Grandpa, your daddy, and Uncle Charles have almost finished up fixing the wagon. We need to be wrapping everything up so they can go. Did you bring anything in?" Olivia asks Caroline.

"No, we left everything in the wagon." Caroline responds so softly.

"Mama, do they have to go? They said that they were going to see family in Virginia, but we are their family in Virginia." Elizabeth says to Olivia.

"Elizabeth, we have to go see my sister Kate. You know your mama's aunt Kate." Caroline says.

"Why don't I just call Aunt Kate, and have her come stay with us for a few days and that will give us more of a chance to get to know each other." Olivia says.

"I have known you Miss Olivia since the day you were born." Caroline replies with a smile.

"Come on. The girls are getting along so well. I enjoyed spending time with you; I haven't seen you since I was a child. Olivia says.

"Mary, Laura. Go talk to your Pa and tell him we're staying here." Caroline says.

"Alright." Laura says.

"I'll show you where the barn is." Elizabeth says.

"We'll go through the back door." Erin states. Mary, Laura, Elizabeth, and Erin go outside to the barn. When they get out there, they wait for John, Charles, and Zeb to stop.

"Daddy?" Erin says. John turns around and looks at them.

"Yes ladies? What can I do for you?" John asks.

"Pa, Ma says that she's staying here. Olivia says that she'll call Aunt Kate and that she could come see us and we wouldn't have to leave the mountain." Mary calls out.

"Well now, that's a fine idea." Grandpa says laughing.

"Fine, you tell your Ma that she can do that." Charles says.


	5. Charles Oks it

"**Well, what do you want to do Pa?" Mary asks him.**

**"I'll do whatever your Ma wants to do, Mary. Now you and Laura get back in the house. I don't want you getting sick out here." Charles says to them.**

**"Yes, Pa." Laura and Mary say together.**

"**You sound like me and Liv, Charles. Whatever she wants is what's going to happen. Always." John says laughing.**

**"Come on, I'll help you guys back into the house. It gets awful dark out here at night." Erin says to them.**

**"Really? I hadn't noticed." Mary says to her.**

"**Was that sarcasm?" Elizabeth asks Mary.**

**"It was a joke Elizabeth." Laura tells her. "Despite my sister's blindness, she still finds time to joke around."**

**"Do you fancy any boys Miss Laura?" Erin asks her.**

"**What? Who talks like that anymore?" Laura asks Erin.**

**"Well everybody on Walton's Mountain does. They don't off the mountain?" Elizabeth asks.**

**"They did when my Ma was growing up, so she says." Laura states.**

"**Yeah, they talked that way when our Mama and Grandma were growing up. We've just taken on some of their terms here on Walton's Mountain." Erin says.**

**"I can't believe you have a whole Mountain named after you." Mary exclaims.**

**"Yeah, it's really beautiful Mary, I wish you could see it." Laura says.**

"**I've grown up my whole life on this mountain, so have my brothers and sisters, my daddy, and even my grandpa and grandma." Elizabeth says. Just then, they get to the front porch and they open the door.**

**"Ma?" Mary calls out. Olivia and Caroline stand up as well as Mary Ellen.**

"**Yes?" Caroline responds.**

**"Pa says that if you want to stay here we can stay." Laura says.**

"**Good!" Olivia exclaims.**


	6. Olivia is overjoyed

"Olivia, calm down darling. You will be okay. It's not as if it's the greatest news in history." Caroline says to her niece.

"I haven't seen you in years Aunt Caroline. Is it a bad thing that I want to spend time with you?" Olivia asks.

"No, it's just that my own children don't even act as excited as you do about seeing me." Caroline replies.

"They get to see you every day Aunt Caroline. I haven't seen you since I was a small child." Olivia replies.

"That could be right. Well I mean, Mary has always been very respectful, but Laura is getting very cocky lately." Caroline replies.

"Oh, I remember those years. It was the worst with Mary Ellen. She'd fly off the handle for no apparent reason. It would take John, me, Grandma and Grandpa to get her to cool down. But sometimes John and Grandma would get hot headed and we would have to calm them down before we could get Mary Ellen cooled." Olivia says.

"Your Uncle Charles and I have never had a problem with our children before; but I think that a strap to Laura would be the end of our problems." Caroline replies.

"Aunt Caroline, do you really think it would be okay to take a switch to her?" Olivia asks.

"Yes, I think if you took a strap to some of your kids too, it would be better for all of you. They would learn discipline; quickly." Caroline says.

"Well Aunt Caroline, John and I believe that children should be disciplined, but that is not the way to handle it." Olivia replies.

"Oh, don't be too sure my dear Livie." Caroline states.


	7. Chatting & Charles' Job Offer

Mary, Laura, Carrie, Grace, Cassandra, Mary Ellen, Erin, and Elizabeth were upstairs in the girls' room again.

"Well, I guess if we are going to be here for a while we should probably start getting along better." Mary says leaning against the wall.

"I agree." Mary Ellen replies.

"I am sorry that we argued before, but we are cousins after all." Erin says.

"We were rude to you when we first got here. That's something we would like to apologize about." Laura says. There is a long silence.

"What's it like to live on a mountain?" Cassandra asks them. All the girls sigh.

"It's beautiful. You can always smell the mountain air and the scenery is so pretty." Mary Ellen replies.

"The only thing is, here in the mountains we are so far away from the city." Erin says. "Rockfish, Charlottesville, Richmond; they are all so far away."

"Walnut Grove is the same way. We are a small town. We used to live in a town called Winoka, when Mary taught at the blind school and Walnut Grove was dying. We finally moved back to Walnut Grove though. I was extremely glad about that. Now Mary teaches at the blind school in Walnut Grove." Laura says.

"Really? How do they get along without you?" Mary Ellen asks curiously.

"Oh Adam and Hester Sue can take care of the school without me. I'm sure one of them can take over my classes. Ma and Pa told Adam how important it was for me to see my family and of course he agreed." Mary replies.

"What is Adam like?" Erin asks with a smile.

"Oh, he's sweet, and caring. He really loves each and every one of the children in our school." Mary states.

"Mary used to be one of Adam's students." Carrie says.

"What does he look like?" Elizabeth asks trying to fit in. Laura just looks at Mary. There is silence in the room. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to say anything wrong." Mary gets up and feels her way over to Elizabeth. She puts her hand on the bed and sits down next to her. Elizabeth helps her onto the bed. Mary takes Elizabeth's hand in hers.

"You didn't say anything wrong Elizabeth. I've never seen Adam; with my eyes anyway." Mary says.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I never realized." Elizabeth starts to say.

"Don't worry about that Elizabeth. I understand." Mary replies.

"Why are you engaged to a man you've never seen?" Erin asks.

"When I first went blind I was upset because I wasn't able to see, but now I've found it as a blessing in some ways. Without my sight, I get to see people for their heart not for what's on the outside. I have learned what kind of person Adam is without my sight. I love him for who he is." Mary says with a huge smile.

"But he isn't that bad looking though. He is tall with dark hair and these deep eyes." Laura says. Erin, Mary Ellen, and Elizabeth look at her.

"Is Adam blind too?" Mary Ellen asks.

"Yes. He's been blind for a long time. He started teaching at a blind school after he was able to handle his own blindness." Mary replies.

"Really? So he's never seen you either?" Erin asks.

"Yep, that's right. I have never seen two happier people than Mary and Adam." Carrie says.

"Mary Ellen?" Mary asks.

"Yes." Mary Ellen says looking at Mary.

"What's it like to be a ma when your husband is away from you?" Mary asks.

"It's difficult, but with my brothers and sisters here, and my parents it's not as difficult. For a while, I stayed at me and Curt's house; but then Mama and Daddy came to get me and John Curtis and we've stayed at their house ever since." Mary Ellen replies.

"It must be nice to have your family around." Mary says.

"What about Aunt Caroline and Uncle Charles? I thought that they were there for you guys." Mary Ellen asks.

"They are; but since I don't live with Ma and Pa, plus they have Laura, Carrie, Grace, Albert, James, and Cassandra I don't want to ask them for too much." Mary replies.

"That's how I feel. I felt like a burden to my parents. You know, Jason was in college at the Kleinberg Conservatory, and then Erin, Ben, Jim Bob, and Elizabeth were in school." Mary Ellen says.

_Outside in the barn John, Charles and Zeb are talking after they fixed the wagon._

"What kind of work do you do in Minnesota Charles?" John asks crossing his arms.

"I work for Lars Hanson in the mill." Charles replies.

"In the mill?" Zeb asks looking at his son.

"Yes. We do an awful lot of work. I work with Hanson and Jonathan Garvey." Charles says looking between them.

"Son, I need to speak with you about something." Zeb says. "Excuse us Charles."

"I'll be over here when you need me." Charles replies. He looks around the barn.

"What is it Pa?" John asks.

"John, we need help here at the mill. Charles has been doing mill work for years, you heard him. Caroline is Olivia's aunt. It would be great if we could get him to work with us. That way we wouldn't have to ask Jason to help us when we get into the busy season." Zeb says.

"Do you think that he'd want to? That would be uprooting his entire family, and Minnesota is a long way from here Pa." John states.

"You and I could accompany them by train to go get everything they would need to come back and work." Zeb says.

"What about a place to live? We don't have the room for them to live here." John states.

"Mary Ellen and Curt's house. We could see if Mary Ellen would let them live there just until we can get them a house." Zeb replies.

"Okay. Let's ask him." John says with a sigh. Zeb and John walk over to Charles. "Charles?" Charles looks up at him. "How would you like a job?"

"A job? John, I've got a job." Charles replies.

"We need someone else to help us here at the mill, and we thought about with Caroline and Livie being relation that you all might not mind coming to live up here." John says.

"Well," Charles says with a smile and a laugh, "I will have to talk to Caroline, but I don't see any problem with us moving here." John, Zeb, and Charles walk from the barn into the house. Olivia and Caroline look up at them.

"Charles? Were you able to fix the wagon so we can go home?" Caroline asks.

"Yes Caroline. We got the wagon fixed, but John has asked me a question, and I knew that I would have to ask you first." Charles replies.

"Charles?" Caroline asks suspiciously.

"John, what's going on? What's he talking about?" Olivia questions standing up and walking over to him.

"Caroline, John has asked me to take a job with him in his mill and asked if we would move here." Charles says.

"Oh Charles!" Caroline exclaims jumping up. "You know my answer already." Caroline is all smiles.

"I knew it'd be like that, but I just wanted to ask you first. So we are moving to Walton's Mountain?" Charles asks.

"Of course! If that's what you want." Caroline says.

"Then it's settled." Charles hugs Caroline. He looks at John. "I can start in the mill on Monday."

"Thank you Charles." John says.

"Let's go tell the children." Caroline says.


	8. We're Moving to Walton's Mountain

"Mary Ellen!" Olivia calls up the stairs. Mary Ellen walks down the stairs.

"Yes Mama?" Mary Ellen asks.

"Would you please get Erin, Elizabeth, Mary, Laura, Carrie, Grace and Cassandra?" Olivia questions.

"Sure." Mary Ellen walks back up the stairs. The door opens; everybody turns to face the door. Jason, Jim Bob, Ben, Albert, and James walk through the door.

"Sorry it took us so long Mama, we were talking to Ike about Aunt Caroline and Uncle Charles coming to the mountain. Corabeth was fascinated that some of Mama's family is here on the mountain." Jim Bob says.

"That's fine Jim Bob. Uncle Charles and Aunt Caroline have something they want to tell everybody." Olivia replies. Mary Ellen, Erin, Elizabeth, Laura, Carrie, Grace, and Cassandra come down the stairs and stand behind the boys. Caroline looks at Laura.

"Where's Mary?" Caroline asks. Laura looks behind her.

"Ma, I'm not sure. She was behind me and now she's gone." Laura responds. Grandma and Mary walk in from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry I worried you Ma, I was coming down the stairs and I fell through a doorway because I didn't realize it was open." Mary starts.

"Oh Mary, I'm sorry. I should have helped you come down the stairs." Laura responds.

"It's okay Laura. But I fell into the door and Esther was coming out of the room so she helped me up and we were talking for a minute about the mountain and how there's a special school in Charlottesville that she said I could attend if I needed to. I said thank you, but that I would be going back to the school in Winoka." Mary says.

"Charles, I think that looking into that school in Charlottesville. It will be closer than the one in Winoka ever was." Caroline states.

"Ma, what are you talking about?" Mary asks. Caroline turns to face Mary, even though Mary can't see her.

"Mary, we are moving to Walton's Mountain. My family is here, it's our family. I think it will be a good idea for us to get to know each other." Caroline responds.

"What about Adam?" Mary questions in her quiet manner but in a rude tone.

"What?" Caroline asks.

"You heard me Ma. I said, what about Adam?" Mary wonders a little bit louder.

"Mary." Charles says in a warning tone.

"But Pa, she is moving me away from my home. From my fiancé. Isn't it bad enough that I lost my sight and don't even know what my own home looks like anymore, but that she wants to take me somewhere that I don't even know!" Mary exclaims.

"Don't you talk to me or your Ma that way Mary!" Charles hollers out at Mary. She went running for the staircase. Laura rushes to try and help her up the stairs. She put her hand on Mary's arm and Mary rips Laura's arm away from her.

"Come here Laura." Caroline says. Laura walks from the staircase flabbergasted at her older sister to standing by her Ma. "I knew this wasn't going to be easy." Caroline says facing Olivia. "But it had to be done."

"Is she going to be okay?" Erin asks her Mama. Olivia nods at her.

"Yes Erin, just give her a minute to cool off." Olivia responds.

"Charles, maybe I should go talk to her." Caroline says looking at her husband, trying to be a woman of reason. Charles looks at her for a split second.

"No, we will leave her alone for now. She will come to her senses and be as excited about the move as we are.

[

It was only a few weeks later that the Ingalls family has finally moved all their stuff to Walton's Mountain. Mary Ellen has been helping them move their belongings into the house that she shared with her husband Curt.

"It sure is weird being in here." Mary Ellen says out loud one day as Laura and Carrie go past her.

"Why's it weird Mary Ellen?" Laura asks.

"Laura, we weren't supposed to ask those kinds of questions remember?" Carrie questions. Mary Ellen smiles at Carrie's childlike nature.

"It's okay Carrie. Laura, the reason that it's weird to be here is because the last time I was in here Curt got a letter telling him that his branch of the military was needed for World War II. I haven't been in here since." Mary Ellen states.

"That would be weird." Carrie says to herself.

"Yeah, but don't worry about that Carrie." Mary Ellen says with a smile. "I don't mind helping out my aunt and cousins." Mary Ellen picks up a box. "Let's go. I can show you where you and Laura will be rooming."

"We're rooming together?" Laura questions.

"No, you will be sharing a room with Mary. Carrie, you're sharing with Cassandra. James and Albert with be together and then Grace will be in with Aunt Caroline and Uncle Charles." Mary Ellen says.

"Oh okay." Laura replies as Mary Ellen gives them the walk through of their new home.


End file.
